China Railway says 2008 profit to drop more than 50 pct

HONG KONG Jan 22 (Reuters) - China Railway Group Ltd's (0390.HK) said on Thursday its 2008 net profit is estimated to drop more than 50 percent due to an exchange loss on the firm's Hong Kong listing proceeds, which were deposited overseas in foreign currencies.

China Railway, the country's largest railway and highway builder, earned a net profit of roughly 3.2 billion yuan ($468.1 million) in 2007 according to Chinese accounting standards, the firm said.

It did not provide any additional details about its 2008 results. ($1=6.836 Yuan)

(Reporting by Joseph Chaney, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)